More taxes, new water district for Manchester

Billie Owens, staff writer

Monday

Oct 29, 2007 at 12:01 AMOct 29, 2007 at 4:37 AM

Households in the Port Gibson area will start paying for new water lines in next January’s tax bills.

A brand-new water district is the biggest news in Manchester’s 2008 proposed budget. Customers of Manchester Central Water District Extension No. 3 will start paying for debt service on the new lines via taxes in January bills.

The water pipe will run 10.5 miles in the northeast portion of the community and will serve 131 households in the Port Gibson area, according to Town Supervisor Bill Eddinger.

That’s good news to the residents, who’ve never had public water service before.
Town spending, not including water and fire districts, is expected to be $2,034,228, up from $1,960,546, an increase of 3.8 percent.

Non-property tax revenues will rise only slightly, with some categories, such as mortgage taxes, falling.

To cover the spending increase, the town will use more savings than it did last year and raise the tax levy. The levy would rise 12 percent, to $314,249, compared with $280,021 in 2007.

The tax rate per $1,000 in assessed property value is projected to be 99 cents, Eddinger said, up from the current 88 cents.

The unspent fund balance — what’s left after the bills are paid — is anticipated to be up 1.7 percent to $268,179. That’s slightly more than last year’s fund balance of $263,675. After rolling the fund balance over to help fund next year’s budget, Eddinger estimates there will be about $175,000 left in reserve for water and equipment needs, but the exact total of reserves won’t be known until early February.

A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30, in the Town Hall at 1272 County Road 7.

Here are highlights of the townwide budget.

• Fines and forfeitures are expected to go up by $15,000 — from $75,000 to $90,000 — because a town justice’s illness last year resulted in fewer collections, according to Eddinger.

• The depressed housing market is expected to bring in $17,000 less in mortgage-tax revenue, from $97,000 in 2007 to $80,000 in next year.

• Employee benefits will increase 4.5 percent — from $103,100 last year to $108,000 in 2008.

• Debt service will go down 3 percent, from $26,222 last year to $25,434.

• Total salaries for the four-member Town Board will increase from $11,120 to $11,600 — a 4.1 percent increase.

• Pay for the supervisor’s office, which includes a part-time bookkeeper, will increase from $12,682 to $13,800 — or 8.1 percent.

• Staff salaries will rise by less than 3 percent.

• Because of the 2008 reassessment of property, expenses for the assessor’s office will increase from $76,324 to $86,624, or 11.9 percent.

Special districts

Beyond the townwide budget, Manchester spends more than $568,000 running water and fire districts. The services are paid for exclusively by the residents in those districts. Last year, water and fire district spending totaled $444,991. The majority of tax levies for special districts are up slightly.

The tax rates — per $1,000 of assessed property value — for 2008 are estimated as follows: